How to install OpenVAS on Kali Linux

Simon Taplin

OpenVAS is an open source vulnerability scanner that was originally based on Nessus. The project was forked in 2006 to create OpenVAS

OpenVAS is available on Kali Linux although it is not installed by default. It is however very easy to install and configure.

Open the terminal and run the following commands

sudo apt-get updatesudo apt-get install openvas

This will update the apt database and then install the latest version of OpenVAS on your machine. The OpenVAS application is somewhere around 140mb

Once apt-get has installed OpenVAS, keep the terminal open and run the command:

sudo openvas-setup

This will then configure openvas as well as connecting to the greenbone.net network to download updates for OpenVAS.

Be aware that depending on your internet speed, this process can take up half an hour. As part of this update process, the screen may not show any updates, this is correct as processes are running in the background. Do not close the application, just let it run.

The last step in the installation process is to open a web browser and connect to the OpenVAS system. If this does not work, open your favourite web browser and point it to https://localhost:9392 - The default login and password should be admin.

If for whatever reason, the default password does not work, run the command:

sudo openvasmd --user=admin --new-password=NewPassword

Obviously set the new password to whatever you want. And make it something secure.

Congratulation, you have now setup OpenVAS on your Kali machine, happy scanning.

In the Kali menu under 02 - Vulnerability Analysis, you will see a new section named OpenVAS scanner which allows you to start and stop the OpenVAS service as well as get updates.

For those of you who prefer to use the command line, the following commands work just as well

sudo openvas-start - Starts the OpenVAS system

sudo openvas-stop - Stops the OpenVAS system

sudo openvas-feed-update - Downloads updates for OpenVAS

sudo openvas-check-setup - Checks to see OpenVAS is configured correctly.